As winter turns to spring across the red earth, acacia trees and slow green rivers of Botswana, all is not quite as it should be on Zebra Drive, home to Mma Ramotswe and her beloved husband Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. At the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency there are the usual number of cases to be pursued, from persistent theft at Teenie Magama’s printing works to the rather more serious case of three suspicious deaths at the Mochudi hospital, but there is discontent among the ranks. It is bad enough that Mr Matekoni’s apprentice Charlie is off on another escapade and Mma Makutsi’s impending marriage threatens her happy working relationship with Mma Ramotswe. And when - in trying to prove himself a worthy husband - Mr J. L. B. Matekoni himself decides to try a little detective work, disaster looms . . .
Tender, witty and wise, the latest instalment in the lives of Alexander McCall’s Smith’s extended Botswana family instructs us with familiar modesty in the importance of trust, love, not judging by appearances and what really makes a good husband.
- 'Simple, elegantly written and gently insightful' THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE
- 'Perfect escapist fiction' THE TIMES
- 'There is a timelessness to the tales, yet they are also of the moment . . . His talent is to see the god in small things' SUNDAY TIMES SCOTLAND
- ‘This is delicious, light-hearted stuff and I love it - my only criticism is that these books are just not long enough' THE LADY
- ‘Nothing will dim the charm of McCall Smith’s series, with its portraits of goodness, its sorrow over greed and its profound love of Africa. They are among the greatest comfort-reads of all time, written in plain, elegant prose’ Amanda Craig, INDEPENDENT
Paperback:
£7.99
Published 07/02/2008